Slugged a 45 win mag.

[Blammer]

and the grooves came in at .4525.

what dia would you recommend sizing bullets to, to start test loading.

.453? .452?

this is for a 10" contender.

[45nut]

How many size dies do you have? or is this a question on which one to buy?

[Blammer]

it's a question on which to buy first!

[45nut]

I would go for the .453 :coffeecom:

[Blammer]

who sells a lyman 450 sizing die at .453?

I find .452 and .454....

[leftiye]

Then I'd go to the .454 die, or try polishing the .453 die to .4535". I'd want it at least a thou bigger than groove dia.. The .454 die should work fine. Buffalo arms will make you one for 40 dollars!

[Linstrum]

Hi, Blammer, I'd try what leftiye says. If you need a 0.453” or 0.4535” die but nobody sells them, then get a 0.452” and lap it out with 600-grit wet/dry sandpaper. I do it all the time for making specific sizing dies by taking a clean strong piece of cloth about twice the size of a dollar bill and rolling it up into a scroll shape. Just before rolling it all the way up I take a piece of sandpaper about 2”x4” and overlap part of it on one end of the roll with the tag end of un-rolled cloth sticking out and then finish rolling it all the way up so most of the sandpaper is on the outside of the roll. It should be a tight fit inside the die, if it isn’t you’ll need to adjust it by adding or removing material to the roll until it is hard to push it inside the die while twisting on it. I usually use waterproof paper from a paper plate to increase the bulk diameter of a rolled rag hone because it has a certain springiness to it that helps maintain the pressure against the walls of the hole being honed out. Once you get a tight fit inside the hole, chuck up the other end without the sandpaper in a reversible electric drill motor and spin it inside the die to lap it out, trying clockwise or clockstupid to see which way turns harder then run it whichever way turns harder. Fresh 600-grit carborundum cuts pretty fast even when dry, so run it for ten or fifteen seconds and then run a boolit through the die and measure it. Don’t shoot the first few boolits you run through the die because they are loaded with grit! I reuse the same test boolit over and over again by peening it out a few thousandths larger in diameter on the ends with a small ball-peen hammer, like setting the head of a rivet. When you are done with the test boolit just re-melt it because the grit on it floats to the top with the dross and does not mix with the alloy. By the way, tin oxide is one of the more abrasive materials around and is used as a commercial grinding and polishing grit. The dross from boolit alloy with tin metal in it is usually loaded with some amount of tin oxide even after fluxing but it doesn’t cause harm because it floats on top and does not mix in with the casting metal. Note how much metal was honed out the first go-around and then run the drill motor a bit more, either for a longer or shorter time according to how much metal was removed the first time. It is better to err on the side of caution rather than going oversize and having to order another die online, wait a week or two for it to arrive, and starting all over again. Of course if you have a real small cylinder hone you can use that, but most folks, including me, don’t have stuff like that around when you can “roll your own hone” for cheap. When the sandpaper gets shredded unroll it and move or turn the paper around so fresh grit is exposed on the outside, or get a new piece to roll back up in it. Normally water or light oil/kerosene is used with a hone but when using an electric drill on small jobs like this I run my rolled hones dry unless I have a lot of work to do because honing is real messy when wet and getting grit in the drill motor is absolute death on them! When you get to the size hole you want, scrub out the die with straight liquid dish detergent and a wad of paper toweling. Don’t clean it with a bore brush unless you never use that brush in a barrel again because it will get grit in it. After rinsing the die out with hot water, oil it and run maybe ten boolits through it to get all the grit embedded in the die surface dislodged and then it is good to go. I know this sounds kind of complicated but once you get going you can do the job in an hour or so. Have fun!

[Leftoverdj]

Go with .454. They are a stock item and well within the desirable range.

[45nut]

I found a .452 die to send...lap it as you wish since its soon to be yours. :coffeecom:

[Blammer]

thanks, check pm..